Second Chances
by bohemianbabe
Summary: Seven years ago circumstances beyond his control forced them apart. Now he's back to try again, but will they make it. jl with sb
1. Prolouge

As usual, not mine but in use for the story. Of course if they want to sell the rights to me I'm sure that these days I could almost afford it since the show has gone bye-bye.

the real chapters will be longer, this is just the prolouge

Second Chances

Bohemianbabe

Pg-13: Sex, language, intense situations.

Prologue.

_Lexa cuddled up into Jesse's arms and closed her eyes. Her heart was still racing and her breathing still rushed from them making love just a few minutes before. She felt her skin burn as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. Slowly her breathing slowed and her heart calmed as she drifted off to sleep._

_Jesse lay quietly with the woman next to him until he was sure that she was asleep. Carefully he got out of bed, tucking the blankets close around Lexa to keep her warm. In the silent darkness he pulled on his clothes and picked up his pre-packed suitcase. Setting the suitcases down by the door he walked over to the bed again. He felt his hear breaking, knowing that she would never understand why he had left her. He gently kissed her forehead and smoothed out her dark hair before turning and walking out of the room._


	2. Chapter 1

Updates may be slow since i am trying to finish 'Darkness Falling' and write the several chapters that will make up this story. hopefully i can keep you all fully interested in it! Please read it and review. I am welcome to any suggestions that you might have for the story, and i also welcome negative comments as much as i welcome the positive ones. both kinds will strenghten me as a writer.

I don't own any of the regular cast, but I do own

1. Ryan Leo Pierce-Kilmartin called Leo

2. Jessica Emmaline Pierce-Kilmartin called Jessica or Jessi or Jess

3. Rian Allison Mulwray. Rian is pronounced like Ryan. She is called Alice or Rian.

4. Rachela Kilmartin. It is pronounced similar to Rachel, but the first syllable has a soft a, and the stress is on the 'chel' (Ra-chel-la). She is Jesse's mother.

Second Chances.

Bohemianbabe

Chapter 1.

7 years later.

Lexa sat on the grassy field watching two six year olds playing in front of her. The dark haired girl and blonde boy both went tumbling, but quickly got up. They both came running over to Lexa, their blue eyes filled with tears.

"Momma, Leo pushed me!" The girl cried as she climbed up into Lexa's lap.

"Did not!" Leo answered, quickly forgetting to cry. "Jessica pushed me!"

Lexa sighed and pulled her son close to her. "How many times are we going to have this argument?" She brushed away the twins' tears and stared at the seriously.

"Until Jessica learns to behave." Leo answered.

Lexa half-smiled at how much Leo looked and sounded like his father at that moment. "You two are six years old. You can fall with out one of you being pushed. It's time for us to go anyway. Uncle Brennan and Aunt Shalimar will be waiting on us."

"Are they bringing the baby?" Jessica asked, her bright eyes shining.

"Of course. We're the babysitters so they have to bring the little angel." Lexa smiled and gently kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Lets go."

The kids scrambled to get to the car and then patiently waited on Lexa to make sure they were buckled in well. Lexa was silent as she drove to their house, a two-story Victorian style place that gave her active children plenty of room to play. As she approached the house the tap she had playing for the kids faded away. Parked in the driveway was an older black Mustang, one that looked extremely familiar to her.

"Leo, Jessica, go play in the back yard. I'll call you when Shal and Bren get here." Lexa said as calmly as she could.

The twins got out of the car, giggling, and run to the back yard.

Lexa watched her kids run to the back yard before she got out of the car. Calmly she walked to the front door and stopped when she approached the steps.

He was sitting there, on the porch swing. He had lost weight over the years and his hair seemed to have grown out a bit more. His blue eyes were more serious, but altogether it was still him.

"Hello, Jesse." Lexa said calmly as she walked to the front door and unlocked it. "I suppose you'll want to come in."

"We could stay out here."

"I've been outside at the park all day. Let's go inside to talk." She opened the door and let him step into the house. "We'll have to sit in the kitchen so I can keep an eye on the twins."

Jesse followed her down the hallway into the bright sunny kitchen. Looking through the window he saw the two kids playing in the yard. "I won't stay long. Wouldn't want to be here when their father gets home."

"He's already here." Lexa unlocked the kitchen door so the twins could come in if they needed to. "They're just over six years old. Care to take a guess at who the father is?"

"I'm sorry, Lexa." Jesse said as he sank down into his chair. "I'd have found a way to come back sooner if I had known."

Lexa poured two glasses of iced tea and handed one to him. "So who told you where to find me?"

"No one. I found you on my own." He took a deep breath and looked at her. "Damn, you still look good."

"No cussing in this house." Lexa reprimanded quickly. "Let's just go ahead and get this over with. Yes, they are your kids. I guess the birth control didn't work that night. No, I will not give you any kind of custody. In fact, I'd prefer if you'd just go ahead and leave before they see you."

"How long have you been planning what to say?"

"Since I found out I was pregnant." Lexa looked down at the table. "You want to tell me why you left?"

"My grandfather gave my name to this guy who runs a covert-op group. They needed someone to infiltrate this underground group in Italy. I could blend in well enough to infiltrate; I know the language, the customs, and the computers."

"You've been gone for seven years on a mission like that!" Lexa found herself raising her voice and quickly took a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell me when you left? I would have understood, or at least tried to."

"God knows I wanted to." He got up and walked over to her. Gently he cupped her face with his hand. "It was top secret. I couldn't tell anyone. You don't know how much it hurt me to leave you like that. Iloved you so much, Lexa, I still do.' Gently he pressed his lips to her in a soft kiss.

Lexa felt her old emotions wash over her the second his lips touched hers. She put her arms around his neck and pressed close to him as she deepened the kiss.

Whey lack of air finally pushed them apart Lexa felt her eyes flood with tears, Jesse held his arms open to her, and she fell into him, crying. After a few moments she pushed back from him and wiped away her tears.

"Stay for super. Bren, Shal, and Alice are coming. You can see them and if they'll take the twins for a couple of nights we can talk somemore."

"I won't tell the kids who I am." Jesse promised, gently kissing Lexa's forehead. "God, Baby, I've missed you so much."

The door flew up and the twins came running into the house. Lexa stepped away from Jesse, ready to tend to her children.

Jessica stared at the man in their kitchen and then ran towards him, holding her arms up. "Daddy!"

Jesse gave Lexa a questioning look as he picked up the girl. "Where'd she get that?"

"Her name is Jessica Emmaline." Lexa answered softly. "She's an empath, or will be. Her powers have started to manifest weakly and occasionally she can pick up on things if the feelings are strong enough. I figured you'd want her to be named after Emma."

"So he is our dad?" Leo asked seriously.

"Yes, Leo, he's your father." Lexa answered softly as she kneeled down next to her son. "He'd had to be away from us for a long time because of work."

Leo stared at Jesse for a moment longer and then ran out of the room. Lexa sighed as she heard him run up the stairs.

"I'm sorry, Jess. He'll calm down later." She sank into a chair. "If you will take Jessica outside I'll talk to him."

"I probably should go." Jesse carefully set his daughter down on the floor. "A lot has changed over the years and I shouldn't interfere."

"Don't go, Daddy!" Jessica begged as she wrapped her arms around his leg. "You have to stay! Momma misses you bad and I want a baby to keep here!"

Jesse looked to Lexa for help.

"He'll come back, Jessica. Go play with your brother for a little while." Lexa propped her elbows on the table and put her face in her hands.

Reluctantly the girl released her grip on Jesse and went to join her brother.

"Well you can't leave now." Lexa said as she looked up. "You've already changed things."

"I can't believe I missed all of this. Honestly if I'd known you were pregnant I'd have come back immediately."

"No one but Bren, Shal, Adam, and later Dr. Marcus knew. It was hard to keep it a secret but we did. The morning I found out, I honestly called an abortion clinic. I was so angry with you and couldn't imagine having a child by you. Now I can't imagine not having the twins."

"I'm glad you had them." Jesse sat down across from Lexa and reached for her hand. "I have something for you. I'd planned on giving it to you the night I left, but I couldn't since there would have been too many questions. I know that at least for now it can't hold its original meaning, but I still want you to have it." With his free hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box.

Lexa's eyes widened as she opened the box and found a five carat diamond ring inside. "Jess, it's too much. It would have been too much back then, but now it's just inappropriate."

"It's mine to give, Lexa." His thumb gently stroked the back of her hand. "I'm not asking you to marry me. I love you, and taking you as my wife would make me happy, but I know that our timing is off. Just take the ring. It was bought for you and only for you."

Lexa nodded and let go of his hand so she could slip the ring onto her finger. "There are a couple of things that I should tell you. Shal and Bren are married. They have a three month old daughter, Rian Allison. She was named after us."

"Bren is the only person I know who would give a girl a boy's name." Jesse shook his head. "I figured they would be married."

"Five years ago." Lexa closed her eyes and took a breath. "I don't know how to tell you this, Jess. Noah and Alisha were killed in an accident at Alisha's company. You're grandparents died last year, and Adam was gunned down six months after you left."

Jesse drew in a shocked breath. "Then I change what I said about the ring. I know it's been seven years, and that you are still angry, but you and the twins are all that I have left."

"Don't purpose to me like this, Jesse." Lexa shook her head. "I don't want you to regret what you do."

"All right." He looked down at the table for a second and then back up at her. "You can't say it anymore, can you?"

"There is a part of me that wants to drag you up to the bed room and lock the door, but there is this part of me that is hurt and doesn't want to be hurt again."

"I understand. Look if you'll tell me what time dinner is I'll go check into a hotel and be back."

"Dinner is in just a few so don't bother leaving. I'm ordering pizza." She glanced up at the clock and then looked at Jesse again. "I should…damn it, Jesse, I love you."

"Baby," Jesse whispered as he got up and walked around the table to her, "you have no idea how much I've wanted to hear those words from you."

Lexa gently kissed him and laid her head on his shoulder. "What are we going to do?"

"We'll find a way to make this work, I promise."

Lexa smiled weakly. Hearing the doorbell ring she stepped away from Jesse. "Stay here, I want to surprise them." She quickly ran out of the room and to the front door. She wiped at her eyes to make sure no traces of tears were left before she opened the door.

"Hey, Lexa." Shalimar said as she held out the baby. A flash of light caught the feral's eyes as Lexa reached for Alice. "I didn't know you were even dating."

"She probably didn't want to tell you. You'd have scared him off." Brennan said as she stepped up, carrying all the baby stuff. "How do the twins feel?"

"I'm not engaged." Lexa laughed. "Come on into the kitchen."

Shalimar and Brennan followed Lexa back to the kitchen. At the doorway Shalimar paused, shocked to see Jesse there. She ran over to him and hit him on the shoulder before hugging him.

"Easy, Shal." Jesse whispered as he held her. "I'm back."

"You've got a lot of explaining to do."' Shalimar said. She glanced over at Lexa. "Does he know?"

"I've already told him everything, Jessica adores him, but Leo isn't too happy."

"He'll calm down. He's exactly like his father." Brennan set the baby's things down. "I ought to kill you for not being here. You left with out a word to any us and now you walk back in the door again."

"Give a guy a chance to explain." Jesse laughed. "You married my sister with out my permission, and got her knocked up."

"You'd been gone for two years when I married him!" Shalimar sat down in a chair. "So are you the one who gave her that ring?"

"I'd meant to give it to her seven years ago, but some things came up."

"Do you guys mind taking the twins for a couple of nights?" Lexa asked as she picked up the phone to order the pizza. "Jess and I really need to talk with out the little terrors around."

"We're not terrors!" Jessica called as she ran into the kitchen. She paid no heed to her aunt or uncle, but ran straight to her mother. "Baby Alice!"

"I'll give her to you, Jess, if you'll let Jessica fuss over her." Lexa said quietly.

"Yeah." Jesse carefully took the baby and sat down in one of the chairs.

Jessica stood in front of her father and began to stroke the baby's face with her finger. "Now that Daddy's here I can have a baby sister to keep here."

"I don't know about that, Jessica. Momma might not want another baby." Shalimar said as she let Leo climb into her lap.

"I don't want a baby." Leo crossed his arms over his chest. "Alice is trouble enough."

Lexa finished placing the order and hung up. "Well I don't think I'm going to have another baby anytime soon."

Leo smiled smugly and leaned back in his aunt's arms.

"Jessica, I'll put Alice in her bouncer seat and you can give her a bottle while the adults talk." Brennan said as he pulled out a baby bottle and a canister of formula.

"And I think that there is a prize hidden for Leo outside." Shalimar added and let the boy slide off her lap.

Lexa sat down while all three kids left the room. Reaching under the table she took Jesse's hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

"The girls are in the den." Brennan said when he came back. "Alice is going to love all of the attention."

"So I guess now we're going to find out where Jess has been for seven years." Shalimar said as she rested her head on Brennan's shoulder.

"I've spent six and a half years in Italy, and the last six months trying to fun you three." Jesse shook back his hair. "My grandfather suggested me for a covert-ops mission and during the mission I wasn't allowed to contact anyone on the out side. I also couldn't tell anyone where I was. That's why I left in the middle of the night with out a word."

"Your grandfather was the one who got me to forgive you. He happened to call for you just a few minutes after I called the clinic. I went to see him and ended up telling him everything. He asked me to go through with the pregnancy. I guess he knew you'd come back to me." Lexa half whispered.

"So your mission took over six years?" Brennan asked in disbelief.

"It was only supposed to be for one year, two at the most, but we kept getting closer to the head of the underground group I had infiltrated so they kept me. We got the guy about six months ago. I spent a week in Italy trying to debate whether or not I thought Lexa would have me again. I've spent six months looking for you three."

"I don't know how we're going to make it work, but I want to keep him here." Lexa tightened her grasp on Jesse's hand. "I still love him despite l the time that has gone by. I might even like to marry him and have another baby or two."

"I thought you just said you weren't planning on having another baby." Brennan questioned.

"She couldn't say anything in front of the twins." Shalimar pointed out. "We still don't know if he's staying."

"From what Lexa's told me you six are all I have left." Jesse brought his and Lexa's hands to rest on top of the table. "I plan on marrying her if she'll have me."

"Before either of you say anything, I know what I'm doing here." Lexa gave Brennan and Shalimar harsh looks. "It may have been seven years since I saw him, but I still love him. We'll make this work."

"You sure that is what you want?" Brennan asked. "Once Jessica finds out he's staying she's never going to understand if you two split up. You know how attached she gets to people, Lexa."

"And once he wins Leo over that boy will never understand if his father leaves him again." Shalimar added gently.

"It sounds like you don't want us to get back together." Jesse answered. "I'm not pushing her into this. If she wants to marry me I'll be happy, but even if that doesn't work I plan on being around my children."

"What kind of wedding do you want, Lexa?" Shalimar asked.

"Something small and simple. I don't have any family and I don't think Rachela would come."

"Rachela? My mother?" Jesse asked. "When did you start talking to her?"

"I met her at your father's funeral. She seemed enamored with the twins so we started to talk. We go visit her every week." Lexa explained. "She's actually more upset with you than anyone else is."

"Figures." Jesse shook his head. "So is there anyone who doesn't hate me right now?"

"None of us hate you, we're just upset." Shalimar gave him a gentle smile. "We're just glad you've back safe and sound."

Later that night.

Lexa poured two glasses of Merlot and put the bottle in an ice bucket. After Shalimar and Brennan had left with al three kids Jesse and Lexa had quickly cleaned the kitchen. Jesse had gone to shower and change once the work was done and Lexa had taken advantage of the time by changing into a black sateen chemise style night gown, building a fire, and digging out the quilt she had been given by Jesse's grandmother. With everything else ready she pulled out the sofa bed and put fresh sheets and several pillows on it.

Jesse stepped into the den, his hair still dripping wet. "So its just us."

"For the next three days." Lexa answered softly, stepping towards him. She stood in front of him for a second and then kissed him.

Jesse pulled her close to him and put a hand behind her head. "You don't know how much I've missed that." He whispered when they finally broke apart.

"If you're good we'll see about getting you a few more kisses later. Come on over to the sofa and we'll talk."

"Alright." Jesse followed her over to the sofa bed and climbed in next to her. "I'm guessing the topic is where exactly I've been and why I left the way I did,"

"I got you alcohol to make it less painful." She handed him one of the glasses. "Now talk."

"First off the reason I left you like that." Jesse closed his eyes as he thought back.

_Flashback_

_"You don't want to mess with me, Kilmartin." Nick Letori smiled as he pulled a picture out of an envelope. "If you try to tell anyone where you're going the pretty bitch gets it."_

_Jesse looked at the picture, one of him and Lexa out clubbing. His eyes darkened slowly as his anger built up. "Stay away from her."_

_"You play this like you are supposed to and she'll be fine."_

_"If she doesn't know the truth she'll kill me after this is all over."_

_"And if you want to spend your last night with her you'll keep your mouth shut." Nick took the picture and tore it in two. "Go have your fun, pretty boy."_

_End Flash back._

"Jess? You all right"

"Yeah." Jesse shook his head and took a sip of wine. "He was going to kill you if I didn't take the mission or if I told you about it."

"I would have been fine, Jesse."

"No, he proved he could have done it. He had taken a picture of us." He set his glass down and put an arm around Lexa's shoulders. "Do we really have to talk about this right now?"

"What would we do if we didn't talk about it?" Lexa raised an eyebrow.

"Make up for the last seven years." He softly pressed his lips to her temple. "It's just us tonight. We could take advantage of it."

Lexa leaned into his arms and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, letting his scent awaken her senses. "We don't have to talk about the mission yet. Let's talk about us."

"Alright, lets talk about us." Jesse reached for the quilt at the foot of the sofa bed and carefully spread it over them. "My grandmothers quilt. She made this while my grandfather was off fighting."

"She left it to you along with some other things. Since no one could find you she asked me to hold on to them."

"You've taken good care of it." He gently kissed the top of her head. "So what about us did you want to talk about?"

"Was there anyone while you were on the mission?" she asked suddenly.

"Lexa, the only one during the mission was you. I dreamed about you every night, wrote you letters in a diary, and tried to find a way to contact you."

"Jess, I didn't mean anything by that question."

"I know you didn't." he gently pulled her to him. "Its just one of those things we both want to know for sure, but are too scared to ask."

"I've been too heart broken for a guy to have a chance with me." She sat up and turned to face him. "I really do love you."

"I love you too, Lexa." His hand cupped her chin and slowly he leaned in to kiss her.

The night slowly drifted away as they got lost in each other. When they were both too exhausted from making love they cuddle into each others arms and fell asleep.


End file.
